Tradewinds LLC. Acquires 1,629 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,711 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics accounts for 1.6% of Tradewinds LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $272.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $73.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $258.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.41. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GD. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.